The Hawaii women’s basketball team jumped out to an early lead, saw it disappear then pulled away in the second half for a 65-50 win at UC Riverside today at Riverside, Calif.

UH (5-8 overall) earned its first win in its return to the Big West Conference (1-1) and got its first road victory under first-year coach Laura Beeman.

Junior wing Shawna Kuehu led the Wahine with 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting off the bench. Junior forward Kamilah Martin added 13 points and junior wing Vicky Tagalicod 11.

UH saw a double-digit first-half lead disappear as the UCR Highlanders (7-6, 0-2) went on an 11-0 run bridging the halves to take a one-point lead. But the Wahine scored the next 11 to reassert control and led comfortably down the stretch.